Pearce - No Wenger dispute

09 October 2009 07:49

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// A bit of a hack but it works// The article snippet is wrapped onto a second line, even when #article-sub is emptyif( $("div#article-sub").children().length == 0 ) {$("div#article-sub").remove();} England Under 21 manager Stuart Pearce insists there is 'no long-term dislike' with Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger in the wake of their row over Theo Walcott.

The pair disagreed at the end of last season after the forward was selected for the U21 European Championship, while also being involved in the senior set-up after an injury-hit campaign.

Wenger wanted Walcott to rest over the summer, but Pearce was keen to select the 20-year-old and eventually got his way as the youngster travelled to the Euro finals in Sweden.

The pair could have again disagreed over the Gunners ace this week as he is set to play in an U21s Euro 2011 qualifier against Macedonia, despite just recently recovering full fitness after a back problem.

Pearce, though, is adamant that there has been no dispute this time, saying: "The beauty of my relationship with Arsene was we disagreed, but we did not disagree in a nasty way.

Important"He put his point of view across and I put mine. We both disagreed on each other's viewpoint and we went our separate ways.

"We are borrowing their players, but we are also doing that for the betterment of English football and for the players themselves.

"There is no long-term dislike. Certainly from my point of view, because I know he has been very supportive of me.

"I have got Kieran Gibbs and Jack Wilshere here. So this time it was important that I rang him first.

"We were talking about a player that had not actually played this season yet. So it was important I asked him how he felt on Theo's fitness.

"I rang him first thing Monday morning and said, 'look, what are your views of Theo coming to join the U21s?', and he said it was a great idea."